Historical Context
The group that has become known as The Generation of ’98 was affected by several major events and trends in Spanish history. According to Carr’s definition of the group, most of them were born in the 70’s. These men were especially informed by Spain’s defeat and humiliation in the Spanish-American war in 1898, which crystallized into two distinct political movements, Republicanism and Carlist Monarchism marked by the oscillation of power (a zeal for reform characterized these years of Spanish history):
- “The Glorious Revolution” in 1868 and the following six years of revolution, in which the country overthrew Queen Isabella and the monarchy. and then were left to try to fill the political void with a stable government.
- The First Spanish Republic of 1873 lasted only 22 months.
- The Restoration project of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, was an attempt to create a constitutional monarchy based on the contemporary British Crown which began shortly after Cánovas was appointed prime minister by Alfonso XII in 1874. A system called “turno pacífico,” or “peaceful alternation,” was devised in which two political parties alternated control of the government, by means of a heavily orchestrated and mechanized electoral process. The Restoration was reasonably successful in restoring political stability, but finally ended with the Second Spanish Republic in 1931.
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